Spartans' bowl hopes fade in loss to Gophers

November 13, 2005|DAVE CAMPBELL

Like shoving quarters into a slot machine, Minnesota rarely runs out of quality running backs. Backups Amir Pinnix and Gary Russell led Minnesota to a 41-18 victory over fading Michigan State, with Big Ten leading rusher Laurence Maroney stuck on the sideline Saturday with a sore right ankle. "It's nice to have the kind of depth at running back that our team has," said guard Mark Setterstrom, one of 16 seniors who played their final home game. "We have confidence that any one of our running backs can step in and do well for us." Dominant blocking sure helps. "They kicked our tail today. That's the best offensive front we've seen on tape and played against this year," Spartans coach John L. Smith said. Maroney, whose 1,345 yards were the most in the conference coming into the week, went through warmups for the Gophers (7-3, 4-3) -- but stood and watched all afternoon without his shoulder pads while Pinnix and Russell wore down Michigan State (5-5, 2-5). Maroney got hurt the week before at Indiana. Russell started at tailback and gained 85 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, playing only in the first half because of a hard hit he took to the head. Pinnix rushed 32 times for 206 yards -- both career highs -- and had a fourth-quarter score. "Running backs get the shine and the glory," Pinnix said, "but all the glory should go to the line." Meanwhile, the Spartans were sorting out their fifth loss in the last six games. "I think maybe in times like this we press and try to do too much, because we're trying to find ways to get back to the way we were playing," said Drew Stanton, who went 29-for-46 for 312 yards and fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Dwayne Holmes and Terry Love. Most of that yardage was meaningless, though, once Minnesota had built a comfortable lead. Michigan State dropped six passes in the first half -- including two in a row by Love in the second quarter. The Spartans also committed eight penalties, including a holding call on tackle Stefon Wheeler at the end of the second quarter after an 11-yard run by Stanton ended at the Gophers' 13-yard line. Instead, the ball was moved back to the 34, and Matt Haughey's 51-yard field goal was blocked as time expired -- preserving a 21-3 advantage for Minnesota. That was Haughey's second blocked kick of the half. "We're not as mentally tough as we need to be. You've got to do something positive to gain confidence," Smith said, "and we haven't been able to do that." Bryan Cupito was 8-of-13 for 123 yards with no interceptions and touchdown passes to Matt Spaeth and Ernie Wheelwright. He handed the ball off 63 times. Michigan State now needs to beat No. 6 Penn State to be postseason-eligible. "We can't quit," center Chris Morris said. "We've got too much to play for."